“If you walk in the river often, you’ll naturally be defiled.” Mrs. Chi remained pessimistic about the situation. “Moreover, that girl’s family will definitely call the police when more time has gone by.”

“So what if they call the police? They won’t be able to find anything.”

“I heard there’s a police officer in our city who can investigate murders by using a person’s birth characters. She’s also Dongcheng’s sister, right?”

Hearing mention of An Xiaoning, Chi Rui’er laughed. “Mother, she can’t even fend for herself right now. She’s been captured by some people overseas. So, don’t worry, this incident has been put to an end. Originally… I didn’t intend to kill her, I just wanted to use her phone to send Dongcheng a message to break up. But she provoked me.”

“Your Mother just doesn’t feel at ease about it.”

“I executed it flawlessly, no one will find out.” Chi Rui’er was completely unbothered.

Mrs. Chi let out a helpless sigh.

—

An Xiaoning was imprisoned in the room every day. She slept, ate, and did her business, all on the same bed. It almost seemed like she was a paralyzed patient.

Xi Bolai did not mind the stench in the room and indulged in the time he spent with her in that basement.

Seeing how she struggled to even move, Xi Bolai found it extremely satisfying.

“Jin Qingyan is really trying a lot of means and ways. He’s sent so many people in secretly, but what a shame. They’ve all failed or have died in my hands. The thought of it makes me drunk with satisfaction.” Xi Bolai had his arm supporting his head, and his body was turned sideways so he could look at her. “He’s already given me 500 million dollars, but it seems like he’s not very willing to give me one billion dollars. I see you’re not worth one billion.”

An Xiaoning scoffed. “It’s right not to give it to you. A greedy man like you, giving you 500 million is already more than you deserve.”

His eyes twinkled. “You really have the gift of the gab, but I won’t hold it against you. An Xiaoning, I’ll bleed you dry of your worth and let you see with your own eyes how your man gets controlled by me.”

An Xiaoning darted a glance at him. “Then you must definitely protect what you have. Or else, it will be tragic if you don’t even know how you ended up dying.”

Xi Bolai flashed a contemptuous smile. “You’re in my hands. What will Jin Qingyan dare to do to me?”

At this moment, An Xiaoning wished that Jin Qingyan did not love her. Only then would he not be threatened by this man.

She wanted to get out of this place.

Desperately.

“I see your body has been nourished more or less. In a few days, I’ll let you get a good bath and serve me. So, don’t be too happy tonight.”

An Xiaoning listened to his words numbly. Her gaze was fixed elsewhere, and a firm conviction was all that was holding her together. If she could get out, Xi Bolai was the greatest enemy she wanted to kill. It had to be him.

She would no longer allow this person to act with even an inch of arrogance in front of her.

If only she could get out of this place quickly.

The night was extremely long, and An Xiaoning found it difficult to fall asleep.

At the same time, Jin Qingyan, who was trying to hold himself together, was also finding it hard to sleep.

As this matter did not reach any breakthrough, he became extremely bad-tempered.

His gentle and mild personality on the surface all came to nothing.

He heard from Long Tianze that Mei Yangyang had successfully gotten close to Xi Bolai’s biological brother. He knew Mei Yangyang was highly skilled and put all his hopes on her.

—

Mei Yangyang had carefully stayed by Xi Boyu’s side for a few days without exposing a single bit of what was close to her heart, successfully entertaining Xi Boyu.

He had grown fonder of Mei Yangyang and decided to bring her to see his brother that day.

“My parents aren’t around, so my brother and I grew up relying on each other. He has been especially good to me.” Talking about this, he grinned. “Although he’s my brother, I’ve always treated him like a father.”

“Why, is he very strict towards you?”

“No, it’s just that, he treats me like a son.” He held onto Mei Yangyang’s hand. “Let’s go, I’ll bring you to his house.”

Mei Yangyang’s heartbeat accelerated as she followed him to Xi Bolai’s house.

Xi Bolai was eating his breakfast and, upon seeing his brother bring a woman there, he looked up. “You told me that you got a girlfriend just a few days ago. She’s pretty indeed. How long has she been here?”

Mei Yangyang carefully answered his every question.

Xi Bolai could not find fault in anything, but based only on his intuition, he felt there was something off about this woman.

“Do you also really like our Boyu?”

Mei Yangyang replied, “I don’t think I’m the kind of person who plays up to people with power and disregards feelings in a relationship. I’m very fond of him. You could say I like him, but it hasn’t developed into love yet.”

“You’re an honest person. Indeed, the two of you have only dated for a few days. If you said you love him, even a ghost wouldn’t believe it.”

Mei Yangyang had just rested at ease when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked in surprise at the person who placed it there. It was Xi Bolai’s right-hand man.

“In front of my boyfriend, is it appropriate for you to put your hand on my shoulder?”

Xi Bolai’s right-hand man was embarrassed and turned to his master. He said apologetically, “Sorry, I was out of it.”

Actually, everyone present knew clearly that his move was an act meant to sound her out.

He was trying to sound out whether she had a sensitive reaction and knew martial arts.

But it was apparent that Mei Yangyang had passed the test.

“Get out,” Xi Bolai said to him.

His right-hand man immediately turned to leave.

Xi Bolai broke out into a smile. “Don’t take it to heart, my man has quite a habit of being touchy.”

“Mmm.” She replied simply, keeping in mind the principle of speaking less to make less mistakes.

When she left, she looked rather upset, so Xi Boyu explained, “Lately, there’s been a few agents from outside who were sent in. My brother is just being extra careful.”

“I think the atmosphere’s been really intense lately. I’ve been used to going everywhere alone. No one told me anything, did something happen?”

“Nothing big.” He obviously did not want to say anything further, so Mei Yangyang was tactful enough to not probe. If she had, it might have allowed him to detect a trace of something. If that happened, not only would she be unable to save An Xiaoning, she would have gotten into trouble too.

As the two nestled on the sofa to watch a movie, Mei Yangyang kept trying to find an opportunity to plant a hearing device in his phone. However, she could not even find the chance to touch his phone.